New Essays on Moby-Dick

by Richard H. Brodhead (Editor)

The American Novel series provides students of American literature with introductory critical guides to the great works of American fiction by giving details of the novel's composition, publication history and contemporary reception. The group of essays, each specially commissioned from a leading scholar in the field, examines the interpretative methods and prominent ideas on the text. There are also helpful guides to further reading. Specifically designed for undergraduates, the series will be a powerful resource for anyone engaged in the critical analysis of major American novels. This collection of essays on Moby-Dick reconnects Melville's great work with concerns that are central to readers in critical studies. Richard Brodhead introduces the volume with a discussion of the book's unique place in the canon of American literature. He then recounts the novel's history from its mixed reception in the mid-nineteenth century to its prevalent status as a classic. The five essays that follow focus on various aspects of the novel: its vision of nature, its drama of social alienation, its religious defiance, and its splendid variety of language.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Searnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the six essays in this collection four are helpful and two are not; the essay by Porter is, for example, such a well hammered knot that its many crossings and re-crossings can not be counted. In the end given the many convolutions of her reasoning one concludes that a speaker does not and can not mean what the speaker says. In practice that says that: 'No' does not mean 'No'- just what a date-rapist wants to hear.

[Stormy]

I checked this out of the library at the same time so I could "talk" with the essayists and get more insight to Moby or disagree with them and get more insight to myself.